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110
A follow-up system has been adopted with the result that the
number of children affected has greatly diminished and the sessions
for baths treatment thereby materially reduced.
In less serious cases treatment has been afforded at School
clinics.
HOME VISITS BY SCHOOL NURSES.
The nurses paid 1,212 visits to homes during the year to give
advice on cases of infectious disease and post-operative tonsils
and adenoids cases and for routine investigation in connection
with the clinics.
Reference has been made to the combined service of Health
Visitors and School Nurses.
DENTAL INSPECTION AND TREATMENT.
Miss H. T. Smith, L.D.S., R.C.S., has submitted the following
report on the Dental Service :—
I have the honour to present my report on the work carried
out in the Dental Clinics during the year 1947. The year just
ended has seen, for the first time, three full-time Clinics in
operation. In my last report, I expressed the hope that with the
increase in staff, it would be possible to inspect the school-children
in the Borough twice during the year, thereby greatly benefiting
the children, particularly those in the higher age groups. A year
is too long for an adolescent patient to wait for a routine inspection,
as dental caries progresses very rapidly at this age.
An annual inspection has one great weakness, notably, if the
child were absent at the time of inspection, or for some reason the
parents ignored the notice offering treatment, a period of two years
would elapse before another opportunity of having treatment
would occur and in that time, one or more permanent teeth may
have become unsaveable due to lack of conservative treatment.
Inspection carried out at six-monthly intervals does give the child
a second chance, and the results obtained from the first year have
been most gratifying.
The number of school-children is approximately 15,000 and
during the year, every child has been inspected once and those in